A mind of her own

The evolutionary psychology of women

Second Edition

Anne Campbell

Addresses key feminist criticisms of evolutionary theory by addressing the effects of cultural innovations such as women's empowerment, labour force participation and the impact of reproductive medicine

Accessible to the informed lay person and to those from disciplines outside of evolutionary biology and psychology

Provides a 'female-centred' view of evolution that redresses the tendency to focus on male variation in mating success while treating females as undifferentiated in terms of their reproductive success

Goes beyond standard evolutionary psychology to consider the role of individual differences and the co-evolution of genes and culture

Opening chapter argues that ideological fervour and political correctness have led social science (especially women's studies) to underestimate the role of biology

A mind of her own

The evolutionary psychology of women

Second Edition

Anne Campbell

Description

When Darwin proposed that females shape evolution by being choosy in their choice of male suitors, his Victorian contemporaries were shocked that he accorded so much importance to women. But this early view of the female role was far from revolutionary: They were simply allowed to be passive 'quality controllers' of male genes.

Recent years have shown that the inert 'coy female' is a myth. For a male, a high sex drive and a taste for variety may improve his fitness. But for a female, successful reproduction goes far beyond copulation. She bears the brunt of parental investment with each child represents years of commitment from pregnancy and breast-feeding to provisioning and guarding. For her genetic lineage to survive, she must do this better than her
rivals. Each of us comes from a line of winning mothers. Women are, after all, the first and default sex. It is women who bear children. A child born with a single X chromosome can survive, but not one with a single Y. In a population crash, a female-biased population will survive far better than a male-heavy one.

In this book, Anne Campbell redresses the balance of evolutionary theory in favour of women. She examines how selection pressures have shaped the female mind over thousands of generations: Their emotions, friendship, competition, aggression and mate choice. She brings together data from neuroscience, endocrinology, anthropology, primatology as well as psychology to address fundamental questions about sex differences.... Why are women less aggressive than men? Were
women designed for monogamy or promiscuity? What do women compete for? Why is conflict between males and females inevitable? What makes each woman unique? Have contraception and IVF subverted the process of natural selection?

A mind of her own

The evolutionary psychology of women

Second Edition

Anne Campbell

Table of Contents

1. The essential woman: Biophobia and the study of sex differences2. Mothers matter most: Women and parental investment3. High stakes and low risks: Women and aggression4. Who does she think she is? Women and status5. Like a sister: Women and friendship6. But she that filches from me my good name: Women and mate competition7. A coincidence of interests: Women and monogamy8. Individual differences: The unique woman9. The flexible phenotype: Women and culture

A mind of her own

The evolutionary psychology of women

Second Edition

Anne Campbell

Author Information

Anne Campbell, Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK

Anne Campbell is a Professor of Psychology at Durham University. After completing her D.Phil. on female delinquency at Oxford University, she worked in the United States for eleven years studying girl gang members and violent crime. Since then, she has taken an evolutionary approach to understanding sex differences in aggression, focusing on the psychological mechanisms that mediate behavioural differences between men and women. She has published 5 books, and won the Distinguished Publication Award from Association for Women in Psychology. She has written over 90 academic articles on topics such as female crime, intimate partner violence, one night stands, competition, gender development,
impulsivity, fear, hormonal effects, and mental representations of aggression.

A mind of her own

The evolutionary psychology of women

Second Edition

Anne Campbell

From Our Blog

By Anne Campbell
Getting ready for work the other morning, I was diverted from pouring my coffee by the television news. A comet was about to pass near the sun and might, if it survived, become visible on earth. The professor of astrophysics who had been brought on to explain the details was engaging, enthusiastic and clear. She was a woman. I wondered how many school girls had heard her and been inspired. Fifty years ago, the idea of a woman gaining recognition in such an arcane area of science would have been astounding.